


I've Got You II

by moonstruckhargrove



Series: The Billy Hargrove Chronicles [2]
Category: Stranger Things - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, deputy!Billy, mentions of abuse, my trash mouth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-07 15:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16856545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonstruckhargrove/pseuds/moonstruckhargrove





	I've Got You II

Hawkins, Indiana had never looked so bleak. The welcome sign was losing its paint, and the roads were littered with potholes that the town couldn’t afford to fix. Part of you still wasn’t completely sure why you’d accepted a job back at Hawkins High School as a guidance counselor; there was nothing left for you in this town since your parents moved to Florida to retire.

The town center was the same as it was four years ago. Chief Hopper’s Blazer still sat out in front of the station, a giant _CLOSED_  sign hung in the window of RadioShack, and Melvald’s General Store looked even worse for wear than it did four years ago. It seemed Hawkins was determined to _not_  keep up with the rest of the country and modernize.

Your car chugged along the road as it brought you past familiar sights. Loch Nora, the upper-class neighborhood, the high and middle schools, looking about the same as they always did, except the parking lots were empty.

With your savings from your college jobs as an office assistant and at a doggy daycare, you’d been able to save up enough to put a small down payment on a house back in Hawkins. Mortgages were low and rates were great, and the job as the school counselor paid well considering. It was almost too good of an opportunity to pass up.

You were too busy reminiscing about the past that you didn’t realized you’d rolled through a stop sign until flashing blue lights reflected off your rearview mirror.

“Shit,” you muttered, flicking your blinker and pulling off to the side of the road. You threw it in park and dug through the glove box for your registration. Pulling your license out of your wallet, you sat back with an indignant huff, berating yourself for being so oblivious.

A knock on your window made you jump and you cranked your window down hurriedly.

“I’m so sorry,” you started as the cop bent down to lean on your window. Your stomach plummeted and you were pretty sure your heart had stopped beating.

Billy Hargrove had changed–and not just because of the officer’s uniform he wore. He looked more mature, and he’d shaved his mullet, leaving it long and curly on top and shorter on the sides. His eyes were still a vivid blue, and they sparkled with recognition. A small smile crept over his face.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said with a small awkward chuckle. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

Your voice was hard as you replied, “Likewise.”

Billy’s smile dropped and he straightened up to put his hands on his belt, a stance you immediately recognized as “all business”.

“I see you’re still mad.”

Narrowing your eyes, you leaned further out the window. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Four years is a long time, you know. Didn’t think you were the type to hold a grudge.”

“I guess you didn’t know me very well then,” you huffed, shoving your paperwork into his hands. Your arms crossed over your chest as Billy gnawed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before nodding. He stepped away to run your license and no doubt write you a ticket.

Meanwhile, your brain was having a field day with emotions. At the forefront, you admitted, was surprise; firstly, to even _see_  Billy back in Hawkins and second, to see him as a _cop_  of all things. The second emotion was anger for the way he’d just up and left you four years ago. You’d been waiting to celebrate his graduation with him at the diner, two chocolate shakes melting on the counter, but he never showed that night or the day after or the week after. He was just gone.

The final emotion, you were annoyed to say, was hurt. Seeing him again hurt you more than you even wanted to admit to yourself; you’d seen him at his most vulnerable and he just left you behind, no doubt to go back to California like he’d said so many times.

Before you could dissect the other emotions swimming about in your head, Billy returned to your window, his ever-perfect poker face in place. He handed you back your registration and license, surprising you by letting you off with a warning.

“No need to do me any favors,” you told him, not completely unkindly. A small burst of surprise took over his features before a sad one took its place.

“You’ve been gone a while. Must’ve just forgotten it was there. Have a nice day, ma’am,” he said before turning on his heel and striding back to his car.

Sighing again, you flipped your blinker ( _use yah blinkah_ ) on and pulled back out onto the street. Billy pulled a U-turn behind you, probably to head back to the station.

The drive to your new house was spent in quiet contemplation, and you were slightly miffed to find you’d missed Billy. Swinging into your driveway, you let the thoughts and memories fade as you worked on lugging all of your belongings into the house. It was eerily empty, even when your few trinkets had been arranged and set up. You’d have to go into the town tomorrow and find a mattress and bed frame, so you set up a sleeping pallet on your living room floor. Dinner was delivered pizza from your favorite shop, and you were glad you remembered to shove a few beers in a cooler from your old apartment in Boston.

The next morning, you woke up early to shower, change, and get yourself out the door to do some shopping. You managed to find a good deal on a frame and mattress set and the store would deliver it later that afternoon. Your next stop was grocery shopping, which took you nearly an hour to do. Your backseat and trunk were overflowing with bags as you drove home, frowning at them in the mirror. Why couldn’t they just grow legs and walk themselves in?

Once again pulling into your drive, you began the tedious trek of lugging bags back and forth. On your second to last trip, one of the bags ripped, dumping your fruit all over the sidewalk.

“Fuck,” you groaned, setting down the other bags to begin picking them up like an idiot.

“Forgot you had a potty mouth.”

You gasped and whirled, hand over your heart as it raced beneath your ribcage. Billy stood on the sidewalk, a black lab sitting and panting at his feet. He had a timid smile on his face before he started helping you pick up the apples that littered the sidewalk.

“What brings you here?” you asked, only half-interested in the answer. You still weren’t sure how you felt about knowing Billy was still here, so you settled for angry. It was the easiest one to channel.

“I live a few houses down,” he responded, dropping the apples into one of the other bags.

“Of course you do.” Silence settled over the two of you once the apples were picked up and you moved to grab the bags again. “Thanks for the help.”

“I’m sorry,” he blurted. You turned slowly to face him. “For leaving without saying anything. I swear I have a good excuse. Would you want to grab a drink with me tonight? Around seven?”

You narrowed your eyes suspiciously, and you surprised both of you by slowly nodding your head. 

If only because you were curious as hell to know what his deal was.

“Really?” The relief on his face almost made you smile, but you steeled yourself. “I’ll come pick you up, yeah?”

“Sure. See you then.”

You couldn’t believe you agreed to this. Standing in front of your mirror analyzing your outfit, your brain told you this was a date.

_No, no it’s not a date. It’s an apology drink. That’s all._

When your doorbell rang at ten of seven, you cursed. _He’s early. He’s never early!_

You finished running a brush through your hair before spritzing your wrists with perfume and grabbed a pair of ballet flats. Billy was stood outside your door wearing a button-down you remembered from years before. In typical Billy fashion, the first four buttons were undone, leaving a sliver of his well-defined chest on display.

The smile he sent you was radiant, full of hope that you’d forgive him for being a downright douchebag to you all those years ago. You remained skeptical, however, even as you let him tuck your arm through his and lead you down your walkway.

“You look nice,” he commented, his eyes giving you a slow once-over. “Pretty.”

You kept your eyes forward despite the heat rising to your cheeks. “Not gonna win my forgiveness with compliments, Hargrove.”

“Right. Right, of course.” An awkward silence settled between you and you inwardly cursed.

He opened the passenger door to his car for you, and you almost smiled wistfully at the navy blue Camaro. This car had been his pride and joy when he was a teenager, and it still looked to be in mint condition.

“Some things never change, huh?” you asked, attempting to diffuse some of the tension as you sat down on the plush leather.

“I couldn’t get rid of her. I spent so much time on her that when it came to making a decision, I couldn’t do it.” He stared fondly at the steering wheel of the car before reaching to turn the engine over. It roared to life, the engine purring like a content tiger, and he drove off at a much more reasonable pace.

The bar he picked was a small dive with not too many cars out front. He led you inside and the two of you found a table in the corner. Billy went off to grab a couple of beers and you sat down, looking over the place. It was dark, the lighting dim, and a pool table sat in the corner. Five people sat at the bar.

Billy dropped a bottle down in front of you, and you murmured a thanks before bringing it to your mouth. Billy twirled his in his hands for a few minutes until you set down the bottle and leaned forward.

“Spill it, Hargrove. I’m _dying_  to hear this.”

His eyes found yours over the table, his eyebrows raised in surprise before he closed himself off. You could practically see his guard going up behind his eyes.

“You remember the night of graduation?” he began. You fought off an eye roll.

“How could I forget? That was the last day I believed you weren’t an asshole.”

He winced, his fingers keeping busy with the paper on his beer bottle. “I wanted to come see you. God, I _needed_  to see you. I wanted so bad to see the look on your face when I showed you my diploma. But…my dad, he… He put me in the hospital that night, Y/N.”

You felt the anger rush out of you, and Billy knew it as he looked at you. Your shoulders dropped, all tension and fight leaving them, and your eyes grew wide and sad, like he remembered they did every time he showed up to the diner with a new bruise.

“It was bad, I won’t lie. A couple cracked ribs and a punctured lung, a broken nose, a sprained wrist, a concussion. It was a long recovery. He, uh, didn’t take too nicely to the fact that I’d graduated. He knew I was gone the moment I got my diploma, and I would’ve been if not for you. He knew he was losing control, and when I dropped Max off at home, he, uh, he went to town. Beat the shit out of me and left me there. Max called an ambulance, and I thank her every day she did.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” you whispered, anger replacing your pity at a rapid pace. Anger at Neil, at Billy for not coming to you, at yourself for not acting when he didn’t show up that night.

Billy looked away, a self-deprecating look on his face as his jaw clenched. When his eyes swung back to you, you were surprised to see tears brimming in them.

“I couldn’t get you involved any more than you were. It wasn’t safe for you. He didn’t know about you and I wanted to keep it that way.”

“You still could have come to me, Billy! Jesus! Didn’t you know that?” you interjected. Your voice was thick with thinly-bridled emotion, and you felt like your chest was caving in. “I wasn’t lying when I said I was there for you. I _meant_  it, and you just…left. No goodbye, no phone call.”

“I wasn’t good enough for you,” he muttered. “I’m still not.”

“That wasn’t your decision to make,” you hissed, leaning over the table. “Billy, I _loved_  you.”

His head whipped around in shock, and it was plain as day on his face.

“I never got a chance to tell you because _you. Left._ ”

“I couldn’t destroy you, too,” he admitted, his surprise fading into self-hatred. “I was so angry after that asshole nearly killed me. I started fighting again, I went looking for them. I nearly beat Harrington to death. I was just so angry, all of the time. And I couldn’t risk you getting in the middle of that. I couldn’t risk hurting you, too.”

“You couldn’t let me make that decision for myself? Billy, I was so hurt. Heartbroken, really, when I figured out that you’d left Hawkins for good. I didn’t think anything could hurt so bad.”

“I’m sorry,” he said pathetically, dropping his head. “I figured it’d be easier than admitting I was scared for you, of what he would do if he found out about you.”

You exhaled deeply through your nose, trying hard not to be at least a little moved by Billy’s obvious love for you, even four years ago.

“Where’s the bastard now?” you asked after a few moments.

“Max called the cops on him. After I left, he turned on Susan, and Max didn’t hesitate.”

“She’s a smart girl.”

Billy smiled wistfully. “Yeah, she is. She’s been dating Lucas Sinclair for like four years. Still going strong even with high school.”

“Good for her. And I’m glad you two were able to sort out your shit.”

“So am I. And, if you’ll let me, I want to make it up to you, what I did.”

You pursed your lips. While you still felt the sting of his betrayal, you couldn’t admit that some of that anger and hurt was redirected towards Neil Hargrove and what he did to his family.

“Tell me about California,” you stated, leaning on your arms on the tabletop. “I want to hear if the Golden State was worth it. And tell me all about how the hell you became a cop.”

Billy smiled a bit at you, and you mirrored it, already feeling lighter. As he dove headfirst into stories about California, and how he decided he was happier back in Hawkins (a thought he’d been so sure he’d never have) and moved back. He ran into Chief Hopper, who told him about an opening at the station if he cleaned up his act, and as he spoke you felt your anger and heartbreak ebb away and become something new and alive. You found that you could forgive him, in time, as long as he promised to stay put and not tuck tail and run again.


End file.
